On July 1st, the commemoration day for the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was celebrated. In fact, the first national congress of the CCP was held on July 23, 1921. Therefore, the so-called “party establishment commemoration day” is a “fake birthday” for the CCP. Since its establishment, the CCP has been maintained through lies and violence. Today, the CCP’s repression and deception have reached their limits, with internal unrest and external isolation, bringing the party closer to collapse.
On the eve of July 1st this year, on June 27th, the CCP’s party media announced the expulsion of former and current Central Military Commission members, State Council members, and Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu from the party and military, stripping them of their ranks and referring them to judicial authorities for review.
According to the CCP’s party media reports, Li Shangfu was placed under investigation on August 31 last year; Wei Fenghe was placed under investigation on September 21 last year. However, before this, the CCP had not publicly announced the investigations into Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe.
It was not until May 6, 2024, that Wei Fenghe’s name still appeared in a report on China Central Television. The report stated that Wei Fenghe and others jointly sent a wreath to former Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress of the CCP, Uyunqimg Temee. This report gave the impression to the outside world that Wei Fenghe was “safe and sound.”
The CCP has been dragging its feet, concealing the truth, and half-heartedly disclosing the investigations of these individuals, likely out of fear of unstable military situations, wavering morale, and potential mutiny among soldiers.
Firstly, both Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu are deputy national-level officials who are leaders of the CCP, the military, and the country. The successive downfall of two deputy national-level Defense Ministers in less than a month and their expulsion from the party on the same day is a rare occurrence in the CCP’s 75-year history of state-building.
Secondly, after the 18th National Congress of the CCP in 2012, Xi Jinping took down Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, former members of the CCP Politburo and Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission. After the 19th National Congress of the CCP in 2017, Xi then targeted Fang Fenghui, former Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, and Zhang Yang, Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. By the time of the 20th National Congress in 2022, Xi had dealt with over 170 senior CCP generals, some of whom even resorted to suicide. Despite this, within less than a year after the 20th Congress, Xi took down Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, both high-ranking generals, with severe accusations of serious misconduct that had particularly harmful effects. The more the military anti-corruption campaign, the more corruption it uncovers.
Thirdly, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were both high-ranking CCP generals personally promoted by Xi Jinping.
Japanese journalist Akio Yaita, former head of the Taipei bureau of Sankei Shimbun, wrote on Facebook, stating, “Wei Fenghe is a true member of the ‘Xi family army.’ Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee on November 15, 2012. Approximately a week later, on November 23 of the same year, Xi hurriedly presided over a ceremony at the military commission building in Beijing to award the rank of general. In the eras of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the ceremony awarding the rank of general was usually held on August 1, Army Day, with a group of 3 to 4, sometimes more than 10, individuals getting promoted together. However, the award ceremony held in November 2012 only promoted one person to the rank of general, and that was Wei Fenghe.”
Yaita continued by stating, “The media worldwide extensively covered this and speculated that Xi Jinping promoted Wei Fenghe to infiltrate his own people into the military’s core. At that time, when I was stationed in Beijing, I also wrote related reports. I vividly remember joking with a Western media reporter, ‘Among the 30-plus generals, who were appointed by Jiang Zemin? Who were appointed by Hu Jintao? It’s hard to figure out. But one thing is certain, there is one person appointed by Xi, and that’s Wei Fenghe.'”
As for Li Shangfu, he was even more highly valued by Xi. On September 20, 2018, Li Shangfu, then the Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission and a Major General, was sanctioned by the United States for issues related to weapons trading with Russia. Li Shangfu became the first CCP general to be sanctioned by the United States.
On July 31, 2019, Xi Jinping awarded the rank of general to 10 individuals at the Bayi Building, with Li Shangfu ranked first as the Minister of the Equipment Development Department. At the 20th CCP Congress in 2022, after Xi personally screened him, Li Shangfu was “elected” as a member of the Central Committee of the CCP. Simultaneously, Li Shangfu was appointed as a member of the Central Military Commission of the CCP, ranking first among the military high-ranking officers, only second to the two Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission.
At the 14th National People’s Congress of the CCP in March 2023, with Xi’s central recommendation, Li Shangfu was “elected” a member of the Central Military Commission, a State Councilor, and the Minister of Defense of the country.
The investigations into Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were not just a blow to the two individuals but also a significant blow to Xi himself.
Fourthly, Wei Fenghe’s downfall indicates that the first and second, and third Rocket Force commanders, Wei Fenghe, Zhou Yaning, and Li Yuchao, all three generals, have been brought down.
The Rocket Force was established as a new branch after Xi’s military reforms in 2015 and is considered the elite force for Taiwan and challenging the United States. The Rocket Force controls strategic missile systems carrying nuclear warheads, including short-range, medium-range, long-range, and intercontinental missiles, involving high-level technologies such as space, missile, and nuclear weapons. All three commanders of the Rocket Force have been discovered as severe corrupt officials. Hence, is Xi’s Rocket Force meant for attacking Taiwan and challenging the United States, or is it a “defecting force” betraying Xi Jinping, causing disturbances and troubles for him?
All three commanders of the Rocket Force have been exposed as severe corrupt officials, raising suspicions about how many more corrupt officials the Rocket Force may shelter.
Fifthly, Wei Fenghe, Li Shangfu, Zhou Yaning, and Li Yuchao were all “heavyweights” in the military, personally promoted and valued by Xi Jinping. With Wei, Li, Zhou, and Li revealed as severe corrupt officials, questions arise about other senior generals, admirals, and brigadier generals who were not handpicked or used extensively by Xi. Who can Xi truly trust?
Sixthly, in the first decade of Xi’s administration, more than 170 high-ranking generals were investigated, surpassing the total number of generals who fell in internal and external wars, even during the Chinese Civil War over the years. These 170-plus high-ranking generals, their families, children, grandchildren, and their old subordinates still in the military, all harbor deep animosity towards Xi, wanting to oust him, seeking justice for their grudges.
Within a year or so after the 20th CCP Congress, the CCP publicly reported 13 high-ranking officers investigated, including Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe, Zhou Yaning, Li Yuchao, Zhang Zhenzhong (Former Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Department of the Central Military Commission), Zhang Yulin (former Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department), Rao Wenmin (former Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department), Ju Xinchun (former Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department, Commander of the Southern Theater Navy), Ding Laihang (former Air Force Commander), Lu Hong (former Equipment Department Director of the Rocket Force), Li Chuanguang (former Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force), Li Zhizhong (former Deputy Commander of the Central Theater Command), Liu Yazhou (son-in-law of former CCP leader Li Xiannian, former Political Commissar of the National Defense University).
The names of high-ranking officers investigated by the CCP but not made public, such as Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force Liu Guangbin, could amount to dozens of people. According to a report by “Asia Sentinel” on December 14 last year, a consulting firm specializing in elite Chinese politics, the Cercius Group based in Canada, stated, “So far, in the extensive investigation of the Rocket Force, we have traced approximately 70 individuals who have been taken away.”
The high-ranking officers investigated after the 20th CCP Congress undoubtedly harbor dissatisfaction towards Xi. Why? Because Xi’s anti-corruption campaign within the military has been selective.
For instance, according to the article by former CCP Lieutenant General Zhang Jinchang, “The Corrupt Official Wang Shouye I Know,” the former Private Secretary of the Central Military Commission under Jiang Zemin, former Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, and incumbent CCP General Jia Ting’an, is a 100% corrupt individual. However, Xi has never dealt with Jia’s case. Zhang Jinchang’s article also states, “Wang (Shouye) confessed about 40 other people involved in the same case, a considerable number, but strangely, none of them faced investigation or prosecution. Instead, they were promoted and are now serving in leadership positions at the brigade and division levels in the military.”
The batch of high-ranking officers Xi investigated after the 20th Congress has become a new set of “enemies” within Xi’s military. A group of military personnel closely associated with these individuals has become a major concern for Xi within the military ranks.
From the outbreak of the U.S.-China trade war in 2018 to the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, the CCP has embarked on a confrontational path against the free world led by the United States. Within merely six years, the CCP has reached an unprecedented level of isolation globally.
The CCP has been excluded from summits such as the G7+9, excluded from initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework comprising 14 countries, the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum attended by 60 foreign ministers, the 2nd Global Democracy Summit with leaders from 121 countries and regions, the Global South Voices Summit with over 120 countries present, the U.S.-led Chip Alliance, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) signed by 12 countries, and the Pacific Rim military exercises involving 29 nations.
The deterioration of Sino-U.S. relations has reached the lowest point in over 40 years, with tensions escalating between China and Japan, China and South Korea, China and the Philippines, China and India, China and Australia, China and Canada, China and the UK, China and Lithuania, and China’s relations with the EU and NATO, either severely strained or heading in that direction.
From the onset of the U.S.-China trade war, the CCP has continuously made misguided assessments of the international situation, leading to repeated major diplomatic missteps. In the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, the CCP’s stance has further deteriorated relations with the EU and the U.S., alienating Europe and some other countries to align more closely with the United States.
From June 15 to 16, the Ukraine Peace Summit took place in Switzerland, attended by representatives from 90 countries and various international organizations, with 81 countries and 4 international organizations signing the final communique. Not only did the CCP refuse to attend the summit, but it also pressured some countries to obstruct the summit, preparing to hold its own Ukraine Peace Summit under its direction. This indicates that the CCP has put itself in complete opposition to the democracies led by the United States.
Since the beginning of the U.S.-China trade war in 2018, the U.S. and its allies have been encircling the CCP from various fronts such as trade, economics, politics, military, diplomacy, technology, finance, as well as in matters concerning Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, human rights, religion, culture, and more.
As the CCP continues to make strategic misjudgments and erroneous decisions, it will face even more stringent encirclement from the free world led by the United States.
Why has the CCP found itself in a situation of internal turmoil and external isolation today?
It is all due to the accumulated contradictions and the heavy debts of blood from the eras of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin that are now erupting and must be settled.
Despite Xi Jinping’s efforts to achieve the “three consecutive terms” and reach the pinnacle of power, he bears the weight of the “three great mountains,” being unable to hear or see the truth, making correct assessments of domestic and foreign situations, and avoiding making erroneous decisions are impossible.
It can be foreseen that in the series of misjudgments and erroneous decisions ahead, the CCP will head towards disintegration.